Bleacher Report's NBA March Madness Tournament

Ronald Martinez/Getty ImagesCan Kemba Walker lead Connecticut to a title one more time?

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March Madness is always one of the most entertaining sporting events on the calendar, so let's expand it and allow the professional basketball players to compete as well. And I'm not just talking about the current ones.

To make an NBA version of March Madness happen, I went through the pages of Basketball-Reference.com and created rosters for each of the 96 schools that have produced at least 12 NBA talents.

From there, I turned to a seeding committee, made up of myself and seven close friends, all of whom are basketball aficionados. We ranked the teams from No. 1 through No. 96, and the results determined where the 64 tournament-bound squads fell in the bracket.

Next, I had B/R's NBA writers and editors vote on each and every matchup. Whomever earned the most votes advanced to the next round.

In this article, you'll be presented with quite a bit of information.

The next four slides contain the 64 teams, broken up into four regions in typical March Madness style, and the rosters for each one. After that, you'll see the rounds of the tournament unfold, starting with the Round of 64 and finishing with an epic championship matchup.

When you're looking through these games, keep the following rules in mind:

1. Rosters were determined by selecting the 12 best players, regardless of position. Two players of the same position can only be in the starting lineup if there's no one from a certain position on the roster.

2. This results in some strong bench players. You can shift the lineup in your head however you want. For example, when you get to Georgetown, you're more than welcome to play Allen Iverson and four centers in your mind, even if that's not how the lineup is listed.

3. What players did in college does not matter. We're only considering their NBA prowess.

4. We're looking at each player during the peak of his career. When that is, well, that's up for you to decide.

Without further ado, I present to you B/R's official NBA March Madness tournament!

South Regional Seedings and Rosters

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty ImagesRussell Westbrook and Kevin Love are reunited one more time.

The South Regional is next up in the NBA March Madness tournament. The No. 2 overall seed and more than a handful of Hall of Famers are in this region, but there are plenty of players and teams hoping to pull off a legendary upset.

Below are the 16 teams that will be competing for one of the Final Four spots by coming out of the South.

Even with Bob Carrington doing everything in his power to slow down Michael Jordan and Jared Dudley catching fire from the perimeter, Boston College simply doesn't have nearly enough weapons in its arsenal.

UNC's starters will be able to kick back and watch this slaughter from the bench. They won't need to play more than 10 minutes before this game gets out of hand.

This game was one of the more intriguing matchups of the first round. As the closing seconds tick away, though, Notre Dame's lack of a true point guard comes back to bite the Irish. With Austin Carr and Jack Stephens masquerading as a typical backcourt and no backup guards to speak of, Gus Williams and Bill Sharman would end up having a field day for USC.

Adrian Dantley keeps this game close for the Irish, but the Trojans prove to be too well-rounded and deep in this round of 64 rivalry matchup.

Tennessee got a little bit unlucky in the draw here, as its strength certainly lies in the smaller positions on the court. Bernard King is going to be the main source of points, and the backcourt is far stronger than the ranks of no-name big men.

Unfortunately for the Volunteers, Arizona's trio of Gilbert Arenas, Jason Terry and Andre Iguodala is its strength as well.

The Terrapins have a number of talented point guards, but that's not going to help them take down Marquette. In fact, there's no way that any one of them—especially Greivis Vasquez, whose 2012-13 campaign is so stellar that he's already emerged as a starter—can slow down Dwyane Wade.

Maryland may only fall slightly short of the Golden Eagles in the talent department, but the Terps don't match up well whatsoever.

Who on Illinois is going to step up and stop a prime Charles Barkley? Will Red Kerr or Skip Thoren attempt to make use of their size and slow down the Round Mound of Rebound? Or will the Illinois version of Eddie Johnson have to make up for his vertical shortcomings?

Quite frankly, it's just not going to happen.

Also, how intriguing is it that there's an Eddie Johnson on both sides of this matchup?

South Regional Round of 64 Matchups

Ronald Martinez/Getty ImagesHow far can Kevin Durant carry Texas?

The South Regional proved to be a bit more competitive than its compass opposite in the round of 64. Only one team advanced unanimously—you can probably guess which one—and there were even two upsets in the bracket.

If I had asked you to list UCLA alums, you'd be able to reel off current and future Hall of Famers left and right.

Now, try to do the same thing for the Bradley Braves.

Only the truest students of basketball history will be familiar with more than a handful of players on the team. Hersey Hawkins and Chet Walker clearly stand out about the rest, but even that dynamic duo won't stand a chance against the litany of legends employed by this UCLA squad.

Our first upset of the NBA March Madness tournament involves two collections of canines. A Wolfpack may have the advantage over Huskies in the wild, but the opposite holds true here.

Spud Webb and David Thompson are going to dazzle crowds with their hops, but they aren't quite enough for N.C. State to advance. Washington's backcourt pairing of Nate Robinson and Brandon Roy has a diminutive member as well, and it can certainly hang with the opposing one.

It's the other positions that make the difference in this first-round battle, as Detlef Schrempf and James Edwards in particular outshine their positional counterparts.

It's a testament to Steve Nash that Santa Clara was even awarded a No. 12 seed by our seeding committee. Unfortunately for the Canadian floor general, he draws just about the worst assignment possible in the first round.

Nash has absolutely no chance of succeeding against Oscar Robertson. The Big O is just too, well, big and strong for Nash to handle on defense, and the Bearcats would end up having an offensive field day.

Kevin Durant's first NCAA tournament was a disappointing one, as he and the Texas Longhorns fell to USC in the second round.

The first game of his redemption campaign isn't even going to be close, as Durant only needs to slow down Alex English to beat South Carolina (interestingly enough, also abbreviated "USC"). Even if he can't corral the leading scorer of the 1980s, Durant has enough help in the form of LaMarcus Aldridge, T.J. Ford and Avery Bradley to get by.

This game inevitably turns into a backcourt battle, which doesn't favor the Beavers.

Gary Payton and Brent Barry might provide enough firepower against quite a few teams in this tournament, but the Memphis Tigers are not one of the squads that falls into that category. Not when they have Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans out on the court.

Plus, Memphis boasts the services of hometown hero Penny Hardaway, who could very well carry a much weaker team through the first round.

In the tightest game of the round of 64, the UTEP Miners and Minnesota Golden Gophers engage in a throwback brawl.

UTEP most likely starts the game out in a hole since Gus Bailey trots out onto the court as part of the starting five, but the Miners storm back as soon as Tim Hardaway enters the game and crosses over the Gophers.

He and Tiny Archibald form quite the pairing at the guard spots, even if only the latter is technically starting.

Minnesota's stars, Lou Hudson and Kevin McHale, do everything possible to keep it close, but UTEP prevails in a nail-biter.

If I were coaching the Hoyas, I'd certainly have to consider playing Allen Iverson, Greg Monroe, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo at the same time, just for fun. Just call me Rick Adelman 2.0.

Even if Georgetown employs a more traditional look, the Hoyas are not going to struggle with an Iowa squad that features very little talent in the big-man department.

Unless "Downtown" Fred Brown blows away the three-point shooting record, this isn't going to be worth watching in the second half.

East Regional Round of 64 Matchups

Craig Jones/Getty ImagesWhat can Carmelo Anthony do in his Syracuse encore?

Even though you'll see one upset in the East Regional, it's the least competitive of the four. No fewer than four teams are going to advance to the round of 32 in unanimous fashion, and only two of the matchups are even remotely close.

This region quickly becomes more intriguing as the tournament progresses, but not even Gus Johnson can make this set of games all that interesting.

To remind yourself which players are suiting up for which teams, click here.

With Jason Kidd back in his prime, California is definitely a strong team in this hypothetical tournament, but the Golden Bears aren't going to be able to contain the old-school DePaul frontcourt. Having Kevin Johnson coming off the bench certainly helps the team, but it doesn't solve that aforementioned problem.

Mark Aguirre, Terry Cummings and George Mikan might not be familiar names to the youngest generations of NBA fans, but all three Blue Demon products were exquisite talents in their heydays.

If you have any idea how to stop Dave Bing and Carmelo Anthony from running up the score for the Orange, go ahead and enlighten us. The B/R voting panel clearly didn't think it was possibly for John Lucas, John Starks and Bryant "Big Country" Reeves to do so.

Starks can only pester one of the two offensive stars for Syracuse, freeing the other one to wreak havoc as he sees fit.

Between Sidney Moncrief, Joe Johnson and Alvin Robertson, Arkansas is beyond stacked at shooting guard. However, that won't help make up for the glaring hole in the paint.

It's that hole that Alabama exploits, using Gerald Wallace and Antonio McDyess' superior athleticism throughout the game. Expect plenty of dunks and an early lead that negates any advantage the Tide may have gained from having Robert Horry on the bench.

It's a testament to the play of Dominique Wilkins that the Georgia Bulldogs were both able to earn a No. 10 seed and actually hang with UNLV during the round of 64. Other than 'Nique, the Dawgs don't have any truly notable players.

When Lionel Chalmers and Jordan Crawford are the only two guards on your roster, that's when you know you're in trouble. It just gets worse when the other team is utilizing the services of Kemba Walker, Ray Allen, Ben Gordon and Rip Hamilton.

No matter what David West brings to the table, Xavier might as well just call in sick for this first-round blowout.

In the second-closest matchup of the round of 64, St. John's narrowly storms past Utah to await the No. 1 seed in the West. I actually picked Utah here and didn't think the game would be that competitive, but the B/R writers as a whole beg to differ.

Mark Jackson and Chris Mullin are the standouts for the Red Storm, although they're by no means the only solid players on the roster. In the first round, they prove to be more than Andre Miller, Keith Van Horn, Tom Chambers and Andrew Bogut can handle.

For a team that always seems to be in the thick of things before churning out NBA-caliber players, Ohio State sure has an old-school lineup. But with John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas and Neil Johnston leading the charge, it's a deadly one too.

Just imagine if Greg Oden had submitted a season strong enough to work his way onto this roster.

As it stands, a West Virginia team carried by Jerry West's shooting stroke and immaculately well-kempt hair isn't going to be able to keep this one too close.

Louisville might be the most surprising No. 13 seed in this tournament. I was pretty shocked when I put together the Cardinals' 12-man roster and realized just how little NBA talent the school had produced.

Florida, on the other hand, is stacked, even if it is a very modern lineup.

The frontcourt in particular is unstoppable, between the all-around play of Al Horford and Joakim Noah in the starting lineup and the David Lee-Udonis Haslem combination off the bench.

Even though Dave Cowens was an MVP in his prime and Sam Cassell was pretty darn effective, Florida State just doesn't have the firepower necessary to keep up with the Hoosiers.

Every single member of Indiana's starting lineup was an NBA All-Star at some point, and Isiah Thomas is clearly the best player on the court. George McGinnis and Walt Bellamy aren't too far behind, and we know the Van Arsdale twins can play well together.

If I could only watch one matchup in the first round, this might be my top choice. Arizona State and Oklahoma both feature some pretty big names, and the teams' respective strengths match up perfectly with the other's weaknesses.

For the Sun Devils, it's all about guard play. Between Fat Lever and James Harden, the starting backcourt is phenomenal.

However, it doesn't get the job done against the frontcourt of Oklahoma, which is led by Blake Griffin and Alvan Adams in the starting lineup and Gar Heard and Wayman Tisdale off the pine.

Even if UNC's original starting five were declared ineligible, the powder-blue-clad squad could still scrounge together a better group by using Raymond Felton, Vince Carter, Billy Cunningham, Bobby Jones and Rasheed Wallace.

Even though Arizona's lack of size will prove to be problematic against Chris Bosh and the rest of the Yellow Jackets' frontcourt legions, the Andre Iguodala-Dennis Scott matchup, Jason Terry-Iman Shumpert battle and the bench allow the Wildcats to advance.

Mike Bibby, Damon Stoudamire—don't forget how good he was early on with the Toronto Raptors—and Sean Elliott could all start for quite a few teams, and Steve Kerr is bound to knock down a few bombs off the pine.

Dwyane Wade is good enough to at least keep Marquette in this game, but his supporting cast isn't strong enough to push the Golden Eagles through to the Sweet 16.

Kentucky's squad is just too strong and deep to lose this early on in the competition. Unless we're talking about shooting guards, the position at which Tayshaun Prince is starting due to the dearth of true 2-guards on the roster, every single spot in the lineup goes at least two deep.

Wade might keep this close at the start, but as soon as the backups enter, it's just about over.

Charles Barkley may have been able to capitalize on a major mismatch in the round of 64, but now he's going up against an elite team whose strength lies in the frontcourt. Drawing Elvin Hayes and Hakeem Olajuwon is much more of a challenge.

As should be the case for a No. 2 seed against a No. 7 seed, Houston doesn't have much difficulty in the round of 32. Expect Clyde Drexler, Hayes and Hakeem to prove once more just how much they can bring to the table.

Just like the North Carolina Tar Heels in the North, the UCLA Bruins are making it through the first two rounds of the NBA March Madness tournament without being voted against even a single time.

Washington may have been able to sneak by in the round of 64, but the Huskies aren't going to have much luck against the region's top team. Let's compare Washington's starting lineup to a five-man unit off UCLA's bench.

The second-closest matchup of the second round, this showdown between Texas and Cincinnati is going to develop into a second-half slugfest prominently featuring Kevin Durant and Oscar Robertson.

While Texas' Avery Bradley can shift over to point guard and at least pester Robertson a bit, Durant is going to have his way with Jack Twyman throughout the game. With LaMarcus Aldridge peppering in a few mid-range jumpers now and then, the Longhorns scrape by.

Let's assume that Derrick Rose and Chris Paul play to a draw. It's not that much of a stretch, regardless of which point guard you think is superior at the moment.

Wake Forest still easily wins this matchup because of the battle down low. Lorenzen Wright stands absolutely no chance against Tim Duncan, who has played enough center to be considered eligible there even if he's commonly considered the greatest power forward of all time.

Duncan is going to post such stellar numbers in this second-round game that he could possibly make a run at the tournament MVP (assuming such a thing existed).

UTEP is going to need some serious luck if the Miners hope to contain Georgetown's host of big men. Greg Foster and Dave Feitl are the centers for the No. 10 seed, and they'll be tasked with slowing down a rotation comprised of Patrick Ewing, Greg Monroe, Alonzo Mourning, Roy Hibbert and Dikembe Mutombo.

Yeah. Good luck with that.

If you don't have a quality center on your roster, you might as well just give up against the Hoyas. Even if you do, it's going to be rather tough to advance past them.

East Regional Round of 32 Matchups

If you've ever wanted to see one of the NBA's first superstars battle against a guy every teenager today is familiar with, you've come to the right section of the bracket.

The East Regional has been pretty chalk thus far, and that's going to continue through the round of 32. But that doesn't mean it's devoid of intriguing games. In fact, the battle between the No. 4 and No. 5 seed in the East is one you'd almost have to watch.

Here's one of the more intriguing player matchups, as George Mikan, the original NBA superstar from the '50s and '60s, goes up against Shaquille O'Neal, a modern-day titan.

Ignoring the other matchups on the court, most of which favor the Tigers, Shaq isn't going to have much trouble against Mikan. While the Minneapolis Laker's historical legacy is excellent, he simply doesn't have the size or athleticism to match up against one of the most physical players of all time.

In his prime, Sherman Douglas was a solid offensive player who didn't offer all that much on the less glamorous side of the court. That's the matchup Michigan will be looking to exploit, as it puts the ball in the tricky hands of Jamal Crawford and lets crossovers happen with alarming frequency.

Dave Bing, Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Coleman keep this game close, but it's the battle of point guards that allows the Wolverines to advance to the Sweet 16 in our tournament.

Alabama has a very good starting five—Mo Williams, Latrell Sprewell, Gerald Wallace, Antonio McDyess and Leon Douglas—so the large difference in voting percentages is a huge sign of respect toward one player on the Michigan State roster.

That guy would be Magic Johnson, who isn't going to have much trouble outshining Williams at the point. Jason Richardson, Jay Vincent, Zach Randolph and Kevin Willis are all solid players, but make no mistake about it here.

West Regional Round of 32 Matchups

Can the upstarts in the West Regional keep their magical runs going, or are the favorites going to take over during the round of 32?

We have plenty of intriguing matchups here, including a rematch of the 2007 NCAA Finals, in which Florida beat Ohio State, 84-75. The Gators are the favorites once more, but can the Buckeyes pull off the upset?

Much to the chagrin of people who insist on using "the" in front of Ohio State, Florida has the Buckeyes' number once again.

Even if the starting lineups play to a wash, the Gators have the advantage when the backups enter the game. Udonis Haslem, David Lee, Chandler Parsons and Marreese Speights ensure that there isn't too much of a drop-off when Joakim Noah and Al Horford need a rest.

As strong as John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas and Neil Johnston may be, the Buckeyes can't say the same about the bench.

This ended up being the closest matchup of the round of 32, and for good reason.

Indiana has a much more well-rounded team, one that's strong at each and every position. Plus, it's a deeper squad, with Eric Gordon, Jon McGlocklin and Kent Benson coming off the bench whenever Isiah Thomas, Dick and Tom Van Arsdale, George McGinnis and Walt Bellamy need a rest.

San Francisco isn't at all deep, and the only three players with modern-day name recognition are K.C. Jones, Bill Cartwright and Bill Russell.

North Regional Sweet 16 Matchups

Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesRajon Rondo must love playing with these talented teammates.

We have a couple blue bloods left in the North Regional's portion of the Sweet 16. When you think about college basketball, North Carolina and Kentucky have to be two of the first teams that spring to mind.

However, that won't help them here. It's not about reputation. It's about the players that the schools have produced.

If the blue bloods are going to advance, it will only be because they've earned the right to do so.

It's been a nice run for Arizona, and the Wildcats can go home taking solace in the fact that they were the first team to earn votes against North Carolina. The Tar Heels won both of the first two rounds in unanimous fashion, but that's not the case in the Sweet 16.

Credit the outside shooting of Gilbert Arenas and Jason Terry for that, even if the roster is nowhere deep enough to compete with North Carolina for the vast majority of the game.

The Wildcats frontcourt can keep that matchup close enough that their edge in the backcourt is what matters most. Rajon Rondo, Tayshaun Prince and John Wall are going to have their way with Rob Williams and Otis Birdsong throughout the Sweet 16 showdown.

South Regional Sweet 16 Matchups

Getty Images/Getty ImagesAllen Iverson is going to have plenty of help from the frontcourt.

Each of the top four seeds advanced to the Sweet 16 in the South Regional, including the vaunted UCLA Bruins. Along with North Carolina, UCLA was one of only two teams to make it through the first two rounds of the tournament without dropping a single vote.

Also like the Tar Heels, the Bruins' run of perfection is going to come to an end here. But will their tournament hopes as well?

Trying to figure out how to contain both Sleepy Floyd and Allen Iverson will prove to be quite the challenge for Wake Forest in this Sweet 16 matchup.

The 6'2" Charlie Davis would probably have to take on Floyd, who's bigger and significantly better than the role player from the '70s. That leaves Chris Paul to contain Allen Iverson, which is always a difficult task, even for a defensive stalwart like CP3.

Even if Paul and Davis somehow manage to win the backcourt battle, Tim Duncan is still going to be biting off more than he can chew against Georgetown's ridiculous big-man core.

East Regional Sweet 16 Matchups

Streeter Lecka/Getty ImagesHow much will Brandon Bass help LSU off the bench?

Brandon Bass is one of many quality players off the four remaining benches in the East Regional, and all of them are going to matter.

The top four teams in the region have all advanced free of upsets thus far, but the matchups are getting tighter. The starters alone are no longer going to be settling things when these squads battle it out for a berth in the Elite Eight.

With Pete Maravich, Bob Pettit and Shaquille O'Neal in the starting five, the LSU Tigers already have enough of an advantage in this Sweet 16 showdown.

However, the gap between LSU and Michigan grows even larger when the second units enter the court. The Tigers have Marcus Thornton providing a nice scoring punch, Brandon Bass knocking down mid-range jumpers, Glen Davis banging around down low and fooling people into thinking Shaq is still playing and Tyrus Thomas doing athletic things.

Michigan simply does not have that sort of variety or talent coming off the pine.

We know that Magic Johnson is going to abuse Kemba Walker. The diminutive Huskies floor general isn't going to be able to contain the best point guard of all time, even if he can provide a nice offensive spark with his quickness.

According to the B/R writers, that matchup is apparently enough to push the Spartans through to the Elite Eight.

UConn's size—Emeka Okafor and Andre Drummond will probably need to be guarded by Zach Randolph—and depth were enough to earn my personal vote, but the masses have spoken.

I'm actually a bit surprised this matchup wasn't even closer. It's one I struggled with a lot during the voting process, because Duke and Florida match up quite well.

The position that pushes the Blue Devils over the edge is small forward, though.

Mike Miller might be a great shooter, but he's going to have a hard time matching up against a prime version of Grant Hill. And when Luol Deng, Corey Maggette and Shane Battier come off the bench, Duke is still strong at the position.

Chandler Parsons may be trending upward, but he still has a lot to prove before he's in that same category.

Speaking of incredible things to watch, how about a Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell rematch?

If this were real life, you can be sure that no one would talk about anything other than the battle of big men. Can a prime version of Wilt actually manage to take down a prime version of Russell? Does it matter that Russell isn't wearing a green Boston Celtics jersey?

Even if Russell gets the better of the Stilt, Kansas' supporting cast is just that much better. Paul Pierce would absolutely tear up Joe Ellis at small forward, and the depth is a big factor as well.

Elite 8 Matchup No. 1: North Carolina vs. Kentucky

Craig Jones/Getty ImagesYou can be sure that Vince Carter will produce a few highlights.

To see each of the Elite Eight rosters, click here. This is the only slide the link will appear on for the rest of the tournament, so make sure you keep it open!

Now, on to the matchup:

It's amazing that we can get this far into the tournament and still experience a blowout, but that's what's bound to occur when the Tar Heels and Wildcats square off.

Here's what B/R's Garrett Jochnau had to say: "As good as Kentucky would be, a core of Jordan, Worthy and McAdoo would be too much. Add Daugherty and Lawson to the mix, plus Carter at his prime coming off the bench, and UNC would be unstoppable."

Of course, there's the Jordan factor at play too, something that multiple B/R writers commented on during the voting.

In the words of Simon Cherin-Gordon, "Michael Jordan outdueled Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley and Karl Malone in the NBA Finals. He should handle this team, led by Rajon Rondo."

When I asked one of my friends on the seeding committee, Shashank Bhardwaj, for three sentences about why he picked UNC, he wrote the following, "Sentence 1: Because MJ. Sentence 2: Because MJ. Sentence 3: Sorry the others aren't full sentences."

Kentucky's bench has been enough to overwhelm everyone they've faced thus far, but the Wildcats' backups still can't manage to keep up with the Tar Heels' second unit.

Once Jordan and the UNC starters have earned themselves a sizable lead, everyone is going to realize just how much better the backups are as the margin of victory continues to grow.

It looks like powder blue is the first color represented in the Final Four.

Elite 8 Matchup No. 2: Duke vs. Kansas

Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesWill Brandon Rush be too much of a weak link in Kansas' lineup?

If Duke is going to win this game, the Blue Devils will have to get a massive contribution from the smaller players on the court.

Grant Hill going head-to-head with Paul Pierce makes for one of the most intriguing individual matchups of the tournament, but both Kyrie Irving and Bob Verga will have to take advantage of Jo Jo White and Brandon Rush, respectively.

This fact isn't lost on B/R's Scott Burns, who wrote, "Duke pulls out a close victory here, but only if they can stage a perimeter game with a lot of pick-and-rolls in order to minimize the impact of Wilt."

The majority of the writers, myself included, didn't agree. As for why, well, that boils down to a single player.

Wilt Chamberlain is easily the most dominant player on this court, bar none. He can make a profound two-way impact on the Elite Eight proceedings, especially against Christian Laettner, who starts at the 5 for the Blue Devils.

While the rosters are balanced enough that this should be an entertaining game, Wilt's dominance made it an easy pick for many of the voters.

Perhaps no one felt as confident as Luke Petkac, though: "If your best bet to stop Wilt is a combination of Christian Laettner, Elton Brand and Carlos Boozer, then you might as well not even play the game."

Regardless of the margin of victory, Kansas is Rock Chalking its way into the Final Four.

Elite 8 Matchup No. 3: UCLA vs. Georgetown

Harry How/Getty ImagesJrue Holiday could provide a nice spark off the UCLA bench.

When UCLA and Georgetown battle it out for the third spot in the Final Four, we're essentially witnessing a who's who of legendary big men.

That's a problem for the Hoyas, who have capitalized on a superior frontcourt to even make it to this point. For the first time, the quintet of Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning, Greg Monroe and Roy Hibbert can be matched.

In fact, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton actually do more than just match it. They exceed it, especially with Kevin Love and Jeff Green factored in for the Bruins and Hoyas, respectively.

The matchup of benches is intriguing as well. As Marshall Zweig states, "When you get to backups, this gets even tougher. Davis, scoring dervish Vandeweghe, Walton and the great Jamaal Wilkes are a serious force. As good as Monroe, Mourning and Mutombo are, I have to go with UCLA."

Unfortunately for Georgetown's dreams of a title, UCLA just has the advantage whether we're discussing starters or backups.

Elite 8 Matchup No. 4: LSU vs. Michigan State

Who guards Magic Johnson in this matchup between the LSU Tigers and Michigan State Spartans?

Is it going to be Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, even though he was just 6'1" and struggled defensively throughout his career (career defensive rating of 111, per Basketball-Reference.com)? Will it be Pete Maravich?

The Tigers better hope not, because Pistol might be too busy figuring out how he's going to throw his next lob to Shaquille O'Neal to worry about slowing down Magic.

Even with Magic wreaking havoc like he did for the Showtime Lakers, the Spartans don't bring enough to the table.

LSU is a deeper team, and it's going to be quite the struggle for Michigan State to contain the offensive trio of Maravich, Bob Pettit and Shaq. Dave Leonardis thought the latter single-handedly swung this matchup toward the Tigers: "The Spartans wouldn't be able to stop Shaq."

He's right.

Who's going to slow down the Diesel? Kevin Willis and Zach Randolph?

In reality, no one is, unless he draws a less favorable matchup in the next round. This proved to be the closest matchup of the Elite Eight, but LSU is moving on.

Final 4 Matchup No. 1: North Carolina vs. Kansas

Depending on who you ask, you'll get plenty of different answers when you request personal opinions on the two best players in NBA history.

The constant is usually Michael Jordan, who tends to finish at No. 1 on most ballots. No. 2 is up for grabs, though. Answers usually tend to either be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain.

Well, we have two of the five aforementioned names in this battle of Goliaths.

MJ and Wilt won't be directly competing, but they will be hoping to carry their respective teams into the championship game.

Among B/R writers, the prevailing thought was that Jordan and the rest of the Tar Heels would be able to pull this one out.

Here's what James Pearson had to say: "There is just no one to defend Michael Jordan on this Jayhawk team. And with 18 fouls in the form of Brad Daugherty, Bob McAdoo and Rasheed Wallace, Wilt Chamberlain will be heavily slowed down."

Of course, UNC's superiority is about more than just the consensus G.O.A.T.

Howard Ruben goes into a bit more depth when he breaks down the matchup: "It's really hard to argue with a lineup that features arguably the greatest player ever (MJ), two of the best forwards in Worthy and McAdoo and a top-notch point guard in Ty Lawson. Chamberlain, of course, would have Daugherty for lunch but Worthy neutralizes Pierce. Plus, the Tar Heels bench is superior so UNC reigns supreme in this battle."

Chamberlain is going to keep this interesting for a little bit, but it's North Carolina that earns the first spot in the final.

Final 4 Matchup No. 2: UCLA vs. LSU

Streeter Lecka/Getty ImagesCan Russell Westbrook get the better of his favorable matchup?

To lead things off in the second of the two Final Four matchups, let's roll with a quote from B/R's Jeff Glauser: "What a versatile squad UCLA has here. They can dominate in the post with Kareem and Walton, get it done outside the perimeter with Miller or just dominate their opponents at will like Westbrook and Love currently do. LSU simply doesn't have the speed to catch them."

There's no point in denying it. This matchup just isn't going to be all that close, as indicated by the voting split.

Of all the ballots cast during this round, only one supported the LSU Tigers.

Let's apply the strategy I've been using throughout this tournament for blowouts one more time.

I'd say so, but it would be close. And that's not a good sign for LSU, since that matchup doesn't incorporate UCLA's ridiculous starting five.

Much more interesting than the game itself is the race for MVP in this game. As you can see from the voting results below, there was a two-way tie for first place between Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Russell Westbrook.

My vote went for the current floor general of the Oklahoma City Thunder because, in the words of Luke Petkac, he "could basically turn the LSU guards into turnstiles." Shaq and Kareem can essentially play to a draw, leaving Westbrook free to take over the game with his ridiculous athleticism and offensive prowess.

Championship Game: North Carolina vs. UCLA

Didn't Kareem win enough already? Photo credit: AP Photo via ESPN.

It's only fitting that the final matchup of our legendary tournament is the closest one.

NBA March Madness produced 63 different matchups, and the championship battle between North Carolina and UCLA—the tournament's top two overall seeds—had the smallest voting split. Thirty-four votes were cast for this game, and the winning team only drew 18 of them.

Most of you probably saw the teams on the first few slides and immediately knew that there would be a showdown between the Tar Heels and Bruins. They were just head and shoulders above the rest of the field, a fact that should be quite clear from the blowout victories they enjoyed in the Final Four.

If you're like me, you're going to spend hours convincing yourself that one team is superior to the other. You'll debate with your friends and change your mind multiple times.

Those who picked North Carolina tended to do so because of a certain guy named Michael Jordan. Here are a few explanations from B/R's writers:

"Westbrook will make Lawson work, and the Abdul-Jabbar/Love post tandem will be tough, but in the end, this game will come down to one thing, and one thing alone: which team wants it more—and Michael Jordan always wants it more. He never loses in the finals, and don't expect him to fall short here." - Garrett Jochnau

"No matter how things shake out, the bottom line is that I see this game coming down to the final moments, and in those moments, Jordan stands above all." - Kelly Scaletta

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that all 16 people who voted for the Tar Heels selected Michael Jordan as the MVP of this game. In fact, the unanimity of the powder-blue supporters was enough for Air Jordan to pull a Jerry West and emerge as the MVP despite an ultimately unsuccessful effort.

Therein lies the reason that UCLA does end up taking home the title: The Bruins simply have more balance from top to bottom and position to position.

The Bruins are just mind-blowingly deep across the board. Each of the 12 members of the squad has made an All-Star team at least once, something that the Heels can't quite claim.

I gave you three quotes from the pro-UNC crowd, so here are three more from the pro-UCLA group:

"While Jordan and the guard/forward UNC alums would put up a great fight, UCLA's inside-outside game would prevail. Abdul-Jabbar, Love and Walton would dominate the low block on D and on boards. Westbrook's quick slashing and Miller's range would balance out a very formidable squad." - Sloan Piva

"UCLA would win on a buzzer-beater, and Kareem's dominance in the post leads the way. Jordan would dominate, but he is mortal. Westbrook and Miller would slow him down enough for UCLA to pull through." - Scott Burns

"This game goes down as one of the best in history, with Abdul-Jabbar dominating in the paint and leading UCLA to victory. The Bruins have trouble containing MJ, but Love and Walton dominate the boards and Westbrook creates all kinds of problems for Lawson. UCLA is just too deep and wins a close battle, 78-75." - Howard Ruben

Regardless of who earns your personal vote—and please don't hesitate to let us know in the comment section—it's hard to disagree with Mr. Ruben.

This game would indeed be one of the best of all time. I'd certainly empty my bank account for some tickets.